National Zoo Euthanizes Ailing Elephant
IDA Elephant Experts Visited Zoo and Predicted Toni's Untimely Death

IDA is saddened to report that Toni, a long-suffering Asian elephant at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., was euthanized on the morning of Wednesday, January 25th after a prolonged battle with captivity-induced arthritis. Zoo officials had stated in late November 2005 that Toni may need to be euthanized if her condition continued to deteriorate, but claimed that such a drastic measure wouldn't be taken anytime soon. Nevertheless, a mere two months later, yet another elephant has been cut down in the prime of life after spending decades imprisoned in a series of cramped zoo enclosures. It was these artificial conditions that led to her painfully crippling arthritis, the number one killer of captive elephants.

Toni was just 40 years old, which is young for an animal who can live to be 60 or 70 years old in the wild. She was abducted from her natural home and separated from her family in Thailand when she was only seven months old, and spent the rest of her 39 years on display before the public. In recent years, visitors to the National Zoo were disturbed by the sight of Toni hobbling around in obvious pain, barely able to stand under her own power. She could often be seen leaning against a wall or another elephant or even using her own trunk for support.

Earlier this month, Joyce Poole, one of the world's foremost elephant care experts, visited Toni at the National Zoo on IDA's behalf to evaluate her condition. As the research director of the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Kenya, Poole has studied wild elephant behavior and communication for 30 years, and is an internationally renowned authority on elephants. "In all my 30 years of observing wild elephants, I have never seen an elephant as crippled as Toni," Poole stated. "She symbolizes the dismal consequences of long-term lack of space and movement." Dr. Mel Richardson, a former zoo veterinarian who accompanied Poole, said he was "appalled" by Toni's "debilitated condition."

IDA had long urged the National Zoo to send Toni to the Elephant Sanctuary so that she could live out the remainder of her life in the wide-open naturalistic spaces of rural Tennessee and have a chance to heal. Poole and Richardson confirmed that sending Toni to a sanctuary would be in her best interest – if she was well enough to make the trip - and that her condition would continue to worsen at the National Zoo no matter how good their veterinary care was, but officials dismissed their warnings. Given that the National Zoo had many chances to help Toni, it is shameful that they allowed her health to decline to the point where she needed to be put out of her misery at an age when elephants in the wild are still birthing calves.

Toni is the second elephant to die prematurely from captivity-induced health problems at the National Zoo in recent years, and she should be the last. We sincerely hope that her death will prompt serious re-evaluation of the National Zoo's ability to care for elephants, because they simply do not have the space to meet the vast needs of Earth's largest land mammal. Even though the Zoo is planning an expensive expansion of their elephant exhibit (at the taxpayer's expense, of course), the enclosure will still fail to meet the needs of the three elephants remaining at the Zoo. They will likely meet the same fate as Toni if they spend the rest of their lives unable to get enough exercise in the barren, restricted space of their prison cell. 

Please "Take Action" to urge the following officials to re-examine the National Zoo's elephant exhibit expansion plan and close the exhibit if it can't locate the space (thousands of acres) to meet the needs of this intelligent and complex species. To have an even greater impact, also contact them by fax, e-mail and postal mail.

John Berry, Director
National Zoo
3001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20008
Fax: (202) 673-4607
BerryJM@si.edu

The Honorable Vernon Ehlers, Chair
Committee on House Administration
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Tel: (202) 225-3831
Fax: (202) 225-5144

The Honorable Juanita Millender-McDonald, Ranking Member
Committee on House Administration
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Tel: (202) 225-7924
Fax: (202) 225-7926
millender.mcdonald@mail.house.gov